"The Church Welcomes Everyone"

            During January, we have been studying the Book of Acts.  Acts provides a history, describing the birth and development of the early Christian Church.  We have used this examination to try and identify the essential characteristics of the early Church.  I have called this four-part series, “Re-Claiming the Essentials of the Early Church” because I believe that the four characteristics identified in this exploration should also be integral to the life of the contemporary Church. 

The first characteristic we identified was that the first Church was a community of faith, in which members loved and supported one another.  The second characteristic was that, early in its development, the first Church realized that everyone has a role to play in terms of service—and, that many are called to lead in various areas where they are qualified.

            This Sunday, January 19th, we will explore the hospitality of the first Church, which genuinely strived to love and accept everyone.  Our focus scripture is Acts 8:26-28, the story of the Ethiopian eunuch and his conversion to Christianity.  The story begins with Philip who—along with Stephen—was one of the seven chosen to distribute food and other basic necessities to those early Christians who were poor and vulnerable.  (See Acts 6:1-7 and my blog last week, “The Church Serves.”) 

“An angel of the Lord” instructs Philip to go down to a wilderness road, where he encounters an Ethiopian eunuch.  Acts describes the Ethiopian with these words:  “Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.”

At least one book, several doctoral dissertations, and countless scholarly articles have been written about this scriptural passage and who the eunuch precisely was.  Despite the ambiguity, it is important to realize that Luke, the author of Acts, was a master storyteller.  We may be certain that Luke carefully sifted through all of the information available to him and selected certain stories to include because they illustrated what Luke considered to be the key moments and most important attributes of the first Church.  Taking this perspective, we must ask why Luke considered the story of the Ethiopian eunuch so important to his story of the first Christian churches?

            I believe that the interpretive key here is Acts 1:8, where, just before his Ascension, Jesus tells his followers:  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  These last earthly words from Jesus form the outline for Acts 2-8:

1.      Acts 2:1-42, describes how Jesus’ followers received the Holy Spirit

2.      Acts 2:43-7:60, describes how the Gospel was spread in Jerusalem

3.      Acts 8:1-25, describes how the Gospel was spread in all Judea and Samaria.

Our passage, Acts 8:26-38, logically continues Luke’s story of the spread of the Gospel “to the ends of the earth” because, from a Jewish perspective, Ethiopia would certainly count as “the ends of the earth.”

            Although geographically very distant and culturally very different, the Ethiopian was a proselyte to Judaism.  He was most likely a “God-fearer,” Gentiles, “who had been strongly attracted to Judaism, who studied the Scriptures, worshiped in the [Temple] Court of the Gentiles, attended the synagogues, but who had not become Jews.”[1]  Thus, even though he was a devout, spiritual pilgrim, the Ethiopian was significantly marginalized from the rest of Judaism and the Jewish culture.

            The Ethiopian was also marginalized in another important way.  He was a eunuch.  Within the Jewish laws, eunuchs were specifically excluded from the faith community.  For example, Deuteronomy 23:1 asserts:  “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.”  So, the Ethiopian’s physical disfigurement pushes him even further to the margins of Jewish faith and culture. 

            Despite the Ethiopian’s imperfection and marginalization, Luke recounts that the Holy Spirit directs Philip to, “‘Go over to this chariot and join it.’ So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ He replied, ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him” (Acts 8:29-31).

            The Ethiopian’s invitation to Philip signals a keen spiritual discernment in that he recognizes Philip can serve as his theological mentor.  The passage from Isaiah, which the Ethiopian is reading, comes from Isaiah’s prophecy of the “suffering servant.”  The verses quoted by Luke in Acts are these:

‘Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
   and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
     so he does not open his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
   Who can describe his generation?

     For his life is taken away from the earth.’

Robert Wall observes that in the Greek translation quoted by Luke, the last line says that his life was “lifted up from earth.”[2]  Philip uses this passage, especially the final line, to begin sharing the Good News about Jesus, who was lifted up from earth at his Ascension.  When the chariot (really, a carriage) they are riding in comes to a body of water, the Ethiopian asks to be baptized into the Christian faith.  So, Philip baptizes him and the Holy Spirit comes down upon him, to empower him as a disciple of Christ.

            This story of the Ethiopian eunuch is a story about difference—and, how it makes no difference to the people of Christ.  The Ethiopian had so many differences from the first Christians.  He came from a different country, a different culture, a different religion, a different race.  According to the Jewish Law, the Ethiopian should have been ostracized because of his physical disfigurement.  Yet, the Holy Spirit guided Philip to him because God intends for the Church to welcome everyone, regardless of any disqualification we may think that they have.

            This is the third essential characteristic of the first Church.  As the continuation of the first Church, we in the twenty-first century must be committed to welcoming everyone.

      If you live in the Lincoln, Nebraska area and do not have a place of worship, then I invite you to join us at Christ United Methodist Church this Sunday, January 19, as we reflect upon this third essential characteristic of the first Church and what it means to be a welcoming church in the twenty-first century. 

Christ UMC is located at 4530 “A” Street.  We have three worship services on Sunday mornings at 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00.  The 8:30 and 11:00 services feature a traditional worship format and the services are held in our Sanctuary.  “The Gathering” at 9:45 is held in our Family Life Center (gym), and it is more informal and interactive.   

Come, join us.  Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.

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[1] Albert C. Winn, The Acts of the Apostles in “The Layman’s Bible Commentary,” edited by Balmer H. Kelly, vol. 20 (Atlanta:  John Knox Press, 1962), 65.

[2] Robert W. Wall, “Commentary on the Book of Acts” in the New Interpreter’s Bible,  vol. 10, (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 2002), CD-ROM Edition.